Product Liability Update

How Do You Prove Juror Misconduct After a Trial?

Every trial attorney’s worst fear is a saboteur juror, lying in wait to poison the jury’s assumed impartiality. Think John Cusack’s character in The Runaway Jury. Voir dire is supposed to allow a trial attorney to ferret out any bias that may linger in the hearts and minds of potential jurors. What can an attorney […]

| 4 min read
PL

Top Product Verdicts of the First Half of 2014

The first half of 2014 has proven to be a hotbed for large product liability verdicts. Many of the largest verdicts from January 2014 to June 2014 include significant punitive damages. Some of the largest product verdicts are as follows: 1.          $23.6 billion in Cynthia Robinson v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company In July of 2014, […]

| 4 min read
PL

Getting What You Want From a Jury: Lessons Learned From Top Jury Trial Verdicts

At the Arizona State Bar’s continuing legal education conference, I had the honor of being the featured speaker about lessons learned from top jury verdicts in Arizona. Here are some highlights of what we discussed. The largest 2013 Arizona verdict of $12.12 million was in a medical malpractice case brought by a patient who claimed […]

| 4 min read
KW
Former Partner

Snell & Wilmer Defends Ford Focus Roof in Arizona Federal Court Trial

Snell & Wilmer attorneys Vaughn Crawford, Craig Logsdon and Amanda Sheridan recently represented Ford Motor Company in a case tried in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona in Tucson. The case involved a single-vehicle rollover near Willcox, Arizona in 2008. The Plaintiff, who was the seat-belted right front seat passenger, suffered […]

| 2 min read
LW
Former Proposals Specialist

Choice of Law: Place of Conduct More Compelling Than Where Plaintiff Resides

In Pounders v. Enserch E&C, Inc., decided on August 21, 2013, the Arizona Supreme Court gave a fresh examination to the application of choice of law principles to product liability lawsuits, in particular actions involving long-latency diseases.  The Court ruled that, even though Plaintiff resided in Arizona and his injury became manifest in that state, […]

| 3 min read
PL

The FDA’s 510(k) Approval Process in Medical-Device Litigation

Originally published in the American Bar Association, Product Liability Section of Litigation, Vol. 24 No. 2 (Summer 2013). Any litigator knows evidence makes or breaks a case. One piece of admissible evidence may not determine a matter outright, but it may be that crucial nudge for a jury to tip the scales of justice for […]

| 11 min read
PL